


Building Bears

by Fire_Bear



Series: Bear of my Heart [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Continuity What Continuity, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:25:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bear has ruined one of Arthur's teddies and Alfred is panicking! What can he do? Well, there's only one thing he <em>can</em> do...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Building Bears

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... There's a small continuity error. In the last one, about getting rid of the teddies, it was said that Arthur only kept one but in this, there are three. Basically, I'm an idiot but, if you want an explanation... Arthur hid two of 'em. Or they fell down the back of somewhere. Or they were at his parents.
> 
> Shush.

It was an accident, pure and simple. Arthur couldn't kill him over this. But he would. Oh, he would. Because this was precious to him, almost as precious as the other one.

Alfred had decided to clean the apartment in preparation for his boyfriend's return home. The older man had a day off from college and work whilst Arthur still had to traipse in for lectures from nine until five. He had decided to start in the living room with a duster, reaching up into high places which Arthur couldn't reach. Bear had been weaving around his legs looking for attention and Teddy had been sitting in his usual spot on Arthur's armchair.

When he got to the mantelpiece, he had to remove the few teddies that Arthur had kept and displayed proudly. One was the original teddy that Alfred had given him. Another was a gift from his grandmother she had given him shortly before he died when he was seven. The last was the one they had taken to calling 'Alfreddy'; the one made to look like Alfred himself.

Once he had cleaned there, he turned to the couch where he had put the teddies only to find Bear leaning on Alfreddy. Chuckling, Alfred gathered up the other two and replaced them before trying to gently remove the last one from Bear's grip. Unfortunately, the large cat seemed to think that he was trying to play a game and dug his claws in.

"Ah! No, no, no, no! Don't do that! Let go, Bear!" cried Alfred, doing his best to remove the cat as gently as possible. But Bear would have none of it and the horrifying ripping sound echoed throughout the apartment.

Poor Alfred could only stare at the now detached arm and the grinning teddy bear that Bear had promptly abandoned to bother Teddy instead.

"Oh, crap... What am I gonna do?!" Alfred sat on the floor clutching a duster in one hand and the mauled toy in the other. Arthur had made this one himself, poured all his love and effort into it and now he had gone and ruined it by putting it in the cats' reach. Not only that, but Alfred couldn't sew to save his life. If he tried to fix it before Arthur came home, the Brit would be furious when he noticed the lopsided thing.

What could he do? Make another one? But, again, the problem with the sewing...

And then it hit him.

Quickly, he made sure the cats had enough food and water before grabbing a picture of Alfreddy and hurrying out of the apartment. Hopefully he could get his idea done before Arthur got home.

* * *

Alfred remembered going into this shop when he was a kid. However, it was all fuzzy and vague, only the impressions of glee and excitement and a teddy bear at the end of it (which he had donated when he hit puberty). Now that he was going into it for the first time in years, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

So all he _could_ do was walk up to the first assistant who was free, rows upon rows and piles upon piles of teddies staring at him. "Excuse me, miss. Could you maybe help me?"

"Sure thing!" said the blonde who looked extremely cheerful. "Well, first thing's first: what colour of teddy would your kid would like?"

"Ah, eh..." Alfred blushed a little and dug his hand into the pocket of his favourite jacket to find the photograph. "I... I actually need to get one that looks like this," he explained as he handed it over. "For my boyfriend."

"Oh?" The woman didn't even blink. "That's very sweet of you, but..."

"The cat got it."

"That's awful," sighed the woman, her smile transforming into a grimace. "Is he a collector?"

"Er, something like that. But he made this one himself and it's very important to him. So, um, if I could get something close to it, maybe he won't be as upset?"

"Okay dokey!" she said, grin returning. "Let's find the best teddy for him, hm?"

"All right," Alfred agreed and followed her to a wall were several bits of teddy-shaped fabrics were lined up. They both walked up and down, looking for something a similar colour to Alfreddy. Finally, they had to give up and take something a shade lighter.

Before they could turn away to the next station, though, Alfred spotted a familiar colour nestled beside the one they had picked. He grabbed it as well and looked sheepishly at the kind woman helping him. She nodded to his unasked question and he beamed at her. In case Arthur didn't like his new Alfreddy, Alfred wanted to make sure he got a proper apology bear.

"Do you want to put a recording in it?" asked his bear maker.

"A... recording?" Alfred blinked, a little confused.

"Yeah, you can record whatever you want and it'll play whenever you press the paw."

"Oh, that's cool!" Alfred looked at the microphone and thought about what to put into the new Alfreddy. Maybe he could say sorry. But then, every time afterwards, Arthur would hear the apology and remember the dismemberment of the original Alfreddy. It would be best to say something general but heartfelt. Finally, he nodded to the assistant who pressed a button and he leaned forward. "I love you," he said as clearly as possible.

As soon as the assistant's finger had been removed from the button she squealed as quietly as she could. "Oh, that's just so cute!" she cried, grinning. Alfred felt his blush return and made sure his gaze was fixed on the teddy-in-progress. When she had eventually calmed down, she cleared her throat and asked him, "Would you like to record something in the second one?"

Thinking about that, Alfred shrugged. "Can you put music in it?" he asked, not entirely hopeful.

"There are a few tunes, yes. Just press one of these and make your choice." She pointed at the array of buttons around the microphone and Alfred inspected them.

After around five minutes of pressing buttons and listening to jingles over and over again, he decided on one called 'Magic'. The music sounded calming and happy and, coupled with the name, Alfred had a feeling Arthur would adore it.

Moving onto the next station, Alfred could only watch as the kind employee stuffed both bears. She even handed it over to Alfred for test hugs. Although he wouldn't normally have bothered, for Arthur he decided that he didn't care if the few children and parents in the shop would stare at him. He deemed them both suitable and handed them back.

"Well, now you choose a heart," said the woman and Alfred stared.

"A what?"

Giggling, the woman swept her hand over a container full of little felt hearts. "All of our bears have hearts. You don't _need_ one, of course. But you can."

"Oh, okay." Once more, Alfred found himself peering at his choices, trying to make the right decision. He eventually settled on a rather large pink one for the Alfreddy – because he had a big heart and he knew it – before picking up a smaller, bright red one for the other. This wasn't because he considered the other teddy to have less to give: Alfred liked to think that the red meant that it was filled to the brim with love. Sneaking a quick kiss to the red heart as the woman helpfully pushed the heart inside Alfreddy, he handed it over for the same treatment.

Finally, both teddies were stitched up, named and dressed with some specific instructions and requirements from Alfred. He paid for both and thanked the lovely woman who had helped him. "No problem," was her reply. "I hope your boyfriend accepts your apology."

* * *

Alfred was relieved that he got home before Arthur. He checked up on the cats who were both sleeping peacefully on Arthur's chair. Then he made sure that the original Alfreddy was tucked away under the couch and the new teddies close at hand. Afterwards, he sent Arthur a message asking what he wanted for dinner before busying himself in the kitchen.

When he heard the door finally open, he willed his heart to calm down. Arthur didn't know yet so he just had to act like everything was normal. Quickly, he hurried to the door but, once again, Teddy beat him to it.

"Hello, Theodore, old boy," said Arthur with a broad smile, bending down to stroke at the cat's fur. "Have you been good to Al?"

The aforementioned Al pouted. "Why does he like you more than me?"

Grinning up at him, Arthur shrugged. "We're kindred spirits. Now," he added as he straightened up and began to remove his coat and shoes. "You said something about lasagne?"

"Yup!" said Alfred, as cheerfully as he could with the guilt still weighing down on him. "Almost done, honey. Now, come over here and give me a kiss."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Someone's eager for attention. Did you get bored without me?" he asked with a smirk, closing the distance between them and playing with the strap of Alfred's apron.

"No way!" cried Alfred rather quickly. "Played games all day. But I _did_ miss you, 'course."

"Of course," agreed Arthur before pressing his lips to Alfred's in a sweet kiss. "Now, I'm exhausted so I'm going to find Bear."

"Er, okay..." said Alfred, nervously, watching Arthur make his way into the living room with Teddy at his heels.

It took a few more minutes – when the lasagne had been removed from the oven – for Arthur to come into the kitchen with a frown on his face. "Alfred...?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Alfreddy?"

"Um, well..." Alfred set the dish on the kitchen table and hurried through to the living room. "Now, don't freak out, but..." He sighed and knelt on the floor, grabbing the ruined teddy. "I-I was cleaning and I put the teddies down on the couch for _literally_ a couple of seconds but Bear got his claws in him and wouldn't let go and then..." He showed Arthur the bear. Watching him, he noticed Arthur's expression shift from confused to annoyed and the Englishman opened his mouth, probably to berate him. Quickly, he continued on, setting the bear on the sofa. "Don't freak, though! Look, I got you this." Bringing one of the two boxes he had been given at the store, he pulled out Alfreddy. "His name's Alfreddy and, I know he doesn't look exactly like him, but..." He squeezed the paw and the words 'I love you' came tumbling from it even as he looked up at his boyfriend with large, sad, _pleading_ eyes.

His boyfriend blinked a few times before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Darling," he said and Alfred knew that _that_ tone of voice meant he was exasperated with him. So he quickly pulled round the other box.

"Wait! I also got this!" Carefully, he pulled the other teddy from its holder and showed it to him. The fur was the colour of soft sunlight hitting straw in a barn – just like Arthur's hair. He had wheedled his way into getting green gems for the eyes – not a patch on Arthur's brilliant eyes but a close match. It was wearing a forest green cardigan and a little pair of black trousers and smart shoes. Above its eyes were little black patches of felt to mimic Arthur's sweet eyebrows. "He's called Arteddy." And Alfred grinned at him as sheepishly as he could.

For several agonising minutes, Arthur stared at the teddy and him in shock. Then, suddenly, he chuckled. "Oh, my dear. Sometimes you can be so, so silly."

"Huh?"

Stepping over the cats who were mewing at the teddies, Arthur came to kneel beside Alfred. He carefully removed the teddy from his possession and laid it on the couch before holding Alfred's hands in his. "Darling, I _made_ Alfreddy. I can still fix him. There was no need to buy me a new one."

"Oh." Why hadn't Alfred thought of that? "I-I guess I just panicked, is all."

"Yes, I rather gathered that, love. But... You even bought a matching teddy, too. Thank you." And Arthur looked at him with such love that Alfred felt his heart leap up and dance. With a quick peck, Arthur stood again and took the teddies, leaving the original Alfreddy beside his sewing kit in the cabinet. Then he arranged the other two on the mantelpiece, making sure they were side by side. Eventually, he turned back to Alfred and put his hands on his hips. "Now, I would give you a present to thank you for this but I'm afraid that I am rather hungry and would like to eat."

"Present?" asked Alfred, perking up.

Arthur sighed. "Dear, how many times have I told you that – the answer is always the same."

It took Alfred a couple of seconds to understand but, as they re-entered the kitchen, he said, " _Oh_."

**Author's Note:**

> I've never built a bear in a Build-a-Bear shop so this description was from what I could glean from the website.


End file.
